James Watt Changes the World

In this chapter, Professor Sachs discusses the fifth wave of globalization, which is the Industrial Age. He chooses 1776 as its starting point, as this was the year that Boulton and Watts brought the steam engine to the marketplace. The steam engine built upon Newcomen’s coal mine water pump in order to mobilize coal for motion and industrial production. The ability to mobilize vast amounts of energy to be used in industrial processes and for transportation leads to a sharp increase in output per person. Global population also soared during this period; Professor Sachs touches upon Kondratiev waves of technological change in his explanation. Furthermore, he talks about Francis Bacon's science-based human progress and Newtonian laws of physics and mathematics. The idea of intellectual property allows inventors to make profits off of technological development. Finally, Sachs talks about the role of coal in economic progress.

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